Cherished Moments
by Roxasnamine99
Summary: Since Naruto had return back from his training, we both had been spending time together but every time we do something, it brings us both closer together. SakuNaru. Read and comment onegaishimasu.


Chapter 1

Eternal Dream

"I'll get stronger. I'll bring him back for you Sakura. I promise"

Those were his last words before he left Konoha for his own desire to train and become stronger so that he could become the greatest Hokage one day, suppressing the other five Hokage. When he spoke those words, I would always wonder to myself, will I be able to become and achieve what I want to? When he spoke those words, he was really determined to get what he wants and he will never give up. But what about me? Can I do what I want to? Will I be able to reach my goal? To become the greatest female kunoichi and medic nin. When I see his face, he would always make me feel that I could do anything. I should believe in myself and not depend on others. I had been a burden to those who were around me before but now I can help others and make them feel protected and safe.

He had left Konoha to train with Jiraiya, one of the three legendary Sanin, for about two years already and now, we are back together again, along with Kakashi-sensei, and we are on the road to bring back our friend, Sasuke Uchiha. During the past, I had a crush towards this particular boy. He was quite famous back then too resulting in a large number of rivals for me including my best friend, Ino. We we're actually best friends before we had found out that we both liked Sasuke. Just because of that, we had to become rivals to win Sasuke's love. We were young and stupid, we didn't think clearly but now we could see clearly of our past mistakes and we try to change ourselves into better people.

So like I said before, we are together again but lacking the third member, Sasuke.

We are now somewhere in a forest going towards our destination, The Sound Village. It had been three days already. This mission was going well. A little more ground to cover and I think we could actually reach there already. Probably the fifth day we might arrive at the village. Kakashi-sensei was calm and cool as usual on missions like this. Heck, he was a former ANBU captain anyway. You should have seen him in action once in a while. He's great. People even called him the Copy Ninja or something like that because he had copied a lot of techniques using his left eye, the heritage of the Uchiha clan, the Sharingan. Although he was good, we are better. During the first day Naruto came back, we had to go through the bell test again that we took once before. All I can say is, Kakashi-sensei couldn't even go against both of us together. We are unstoppable.

"Hey NARUTO!! Hurry up you slowpoke" I shouted at a blond boy who was far behind me and Kakashi.

In the past, Naruto had been shunned by the whole village of Konoha just because he had a demon inside him. Nine tailed demon fox had almost destroyed our village in the past if it wasn't for the Fourth Hokage, there wouldn't be anymore village hidden in the leaf. The Fourth had sealed the demon fox inside a newborn baby, which was Naruto Uzumaki, and everyone viewed him as the container for the demon. Everyone hated him, feared him for the thing inside him. Naruto really reminded me of a young blond haired boy I met once. It was a long time ago. I was walking around in a park when I saw a young blond haired boy sitting all by himself playing with the ducks in the pond. I walked towards him and looked at him. He gave me a smile while I just smile faintly. Just as I was about to say anything, my mother called me to come back home. And that's the last time I saw that boy. Maybe it was Naruto. Who knows?

"………." He looked at the dark night sky.

We were now taking a rest before we continued our mission.

"Hey Naruto?" I asked while both of us were gazing towards the shining stars.

"Goodnight"

"Goodnight Sakura"

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"Hey Sakura, come on wake up. It's morning already"

"Hey, come on, were on a mission here"

"Alright, I didn't want to do this but…….."

Poke….poke…..poke….poke…..

"Still nothing?"

Poke….poke….poke….poke….

"Mom, let me just sleep a few more minutes." The pink haired girl spoke.

"Oh very funny. Now get up. We got to get moving."

"Don't want to eh, alright then."

A few moments later,

"Geez, you got a little heavier the past 5 years didn't you"

"Naruto? You're going to carry her all the way?" Kakashi asked.

"Let her sleep, she's gonna miss all the FUN. Especially where the part I put her in the……..RIVER"

SPLASH

Meanwhile back in Konoha.

Tsunade was as usual in her office signing papers when she thought she heard someone scream, "NARUTO!!"

Back in the forest,

I felt cold and wet in all places. I was having a nice dream too. He just had to throw me into the river. Why was there a river in the first place? Anyway, why can't he just become a civilised person and wake me up properly? For god's sake, now I think I'm getting a cold. ACHOO

"See Sakura, at least now you don't need to get a bath" Naruto spoke as he smiled.

My fist moved by it self and punched hard at his face throwing his body flying back a few metres away. "GET LOST NARUTO!!" Honestly, boys. I'll never look at THAT guy's face ever again. If I could punch him right now….oh wait, I did. Kakashi-sensei looked at me and spoke, "It was very hard to wake you up you know. At least you should thank him". Hmph, not in a million years!!

So after all that, we continued our journey to find Sasuke Uchiha, the former member of Team 7.

While leaping through the forest, I looked at Naruto who was in front of me. He seems to don't care much about me but on the other hand, he did promise me that he'll bring back Sasuke. I'm very happy to hear him say that but Sasuke is our friend; both of us should bring him back together and not only by himself. He worked hard and trained with Jiraiya to accomplish that goal. Sasuke was his rival and best friend. Now, who knows what happened to that boy.

I saw both Kakashi and Naruto stopped on a tree and was watching the horizon.

"A little bit more and I think we might reach in no time" Kakashi spoke.

"Someone's here" Naruto spoke.

I looked around inside the forest but I didn't see anyone at all. Wait, I think I can feel something. Someone is here and watching us.

"THERE" Naruto spoke and threw a shurikin towards a tree. Suddenly came down a man wearing purple clothing and wore a pair of spectacles: Kabuto.

"Huh, very good Naruto. It's been awhile we met", he spoke.

Kakashi-sensei came down the tree to face off against Orochimaru's right hand man. The last time Kakashi had good fight, was quite long ago. This is going to be easy. Naruto and I are much better ninjas than we were before.

Naruto moved in for an attack towards Kabuto. "Shadow clone jutsu" a couple of Naruto's clone appeared to aid him in the fight. The three of them charged towards Kabuto and was about to punch him when Kabuto immediately dodge away from Naruto's trio attack. Just as he dodged Naruto's attack, someone appeared behind him, "Nice try Kabuto". Naruto gave a kick behind him and threw him towards a tree.

Kabuto stood up from the blow and spoke, "Nice try but that isn't good enough to stop me"

The medic nin looked at Naruto and used a summoning technique and a large amount of snakes appeared and they moved so fast towards Naruto. I took the opportunity and punch the ground with my enhanced strength causing the snakes to fly everywhere and giving Naruto time to act. Naruto moved in closer towards Kabuto and took out a few kunai, throwing them towards Kabuto.

As a high skilled ninja, Kabuto eventually avoided all the attacks given and stood on a tree branch watching over us. "If you came to this village just to find your dear friend Sasuke, you won't find him here in the village."

Naruto looked up towards him, "What do you mean he's not here?"

Kabuto gave him a smile and spoke, "Well, he went off to who knows where to find his older brother, Itachi Uchiha."

"See ya" Kabuto spoke and disappeared in a cloud of smoke leaving me, Naruto and Kakashi in the forest again.

I looked at Naruto who was frustrated that Sasuke wasn't in the village. I was a bit upset too. Well, we can't do anything now. We should at least go back to Konoha right? Or should we go and find Sasuke?

Kakashi-sensei stood in front of us and spoke, "Well I think we should head back to Konoha. At least we should report back and tell them what happened here." Just as Kakashi finished speaking, I looked at Naruto, "No, I won't go back until I find Sasuke" he spoke. It was a tense situation, "Naruto, I think we should go back. We can go and find him later on. Now his current whereabouts are unknown. How are we supposed to find him?"

Naruto looked at me and nodded, "I guess you're right Sakura"

Kakashi-sensei spoke, "Alright then, we're heading back"

Just as we were about to move again, an orange fox appeared in our sights. We looked at it and Naruto spoke, "Hey it's you". The fox walked towards Naruto and he gave him a pat on the head. I looked at Naruto and asked, "Hey, who's this?" Then I saw a bandage tied up on the right leg of the fox. "I found this guy the other night in pain. So I took some of your bandages and helped him. I guess it came back to thank me" Naruto explained. So it seems.

Well, it's just a fox, it was nice of you Naruto to help him.

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"It's good to be back"

A blond haired boy spoke as he stretched his arms high in the air. His blue eyes gazed upon the wide blue open sky. His face had a smile upon it and his body gives out an aura of calmness. He was Naruto Uzumaki, the container for the Nine Tailed Demon Fox. He wants to change people's perspective about him and he is going to succeed in doing so by going to become the next and greatest Hokage. He was determined to do so and he will, I believe in him.

I was just walking along with him. We had nothing else to do after the failed to bring our friend back, Sasuke Uchiha. I'm Sakura Haruno, a female ninja who is going to surpass my greatest teacher, the current Hokage, Tsunade. I learned a lot from her including my main study, medic. She is the greatest medic nin and I'm going to follow in her footsteps except for her bad luck in gambling.

After arrving, Kakashi-sensei immediately told us that he was going to report to the hokage about our mission. I can't believe we failed in the first place. Well, people are successful because of their failure. We should just try our best to become a better person the next day. So, Kakashi-sensei went off to do his work while leaving us to do our own business; time to spend some time with Naruto.

"Hey Sakura, wanna go for some ramen?"

Typical Naruto: always with his ramen in his mind. Speaking about food, maybe we should get some. I'm hungry. Without delay,

"Okay, let's go Naruto" I spoke as I smiled at him.

So, we went off to have some ramen.

At the same time,

Kakashi was in the room along with the Hokage, Tsunade along with her is her trusted Shizune. Kakashi looked outside the window and spoke without looking directly at Tsunade's face. "It seems our guess was wrong. That boy had left the village to search for his brother, Itachi Uchiha. Now we really have no idea where he could be". The Hokage looked at Kakashi and replied to his statement, "Where did you encountered that information from?"

Kakashi faced away from the window and looked at the hokage, "Kabuto, Orochimaru's right hand man."

Tsunade gave a sigh and there was a moment of silence. Kakashi took out his Icha Icha Paradaisu and leaned his body on the wall in Tsunade's office. While waiting for Tsunade to give him orders, he adjusted his headband which was over his left eye hiding his Sharingan. Then, he continued reading his favourite book by Jiraiya. While he was about to change the page, he heard Tsunade spoke, "Alright then. We stop here for a while. I'll have someone to track down Sasuke. In the mean time, we talk about another mission, about Akatsuki"

"FUH!!"

Wow, does he have a black hole in his stomach or……I don't even want to know.

Naruto is really happy now. He kept smiling all day. He makes me feel comfortable and happy because I see so much joy in him right now. I enjoy this very much.

"Sakura? Are you going to eat yours?"

EEEP, I almost forgot about my meal. I've kept been thinking about him and forgot to eat? I think my face is red.

"Another bowl please" Naruto spoke.

I was starting to eat but he was going for his fifth bowl already. This guy is eating like he has four stomachs. Hahaha, maybe the demon fox is also hungry for ramen. That's why he eats a lot. After a long and tense mission it's always nice to relax with the people you know and care about right? Hmm, this ramen taste great. Maybe I should try some more often but I should always remember I'm not Naruto. I have to control my diet.

"Thank you for the food" Naruto and I spoke. Wait, who's paying?

I looked at Naruto but he looked at me instead and was about to speak when we were interrupted by Kakashi-sensei. "Hey guys, you've been here eating?"

I saw Naruto grin at me.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei, we got a favour to ask" Naruto spoke. Kakashi-sensei could only give a, "Huh?"

Later that day,

We went to the park to enjoy a nice evening stroll. It's been too long we haven't gone for walks like these. Usually times like this are the best to do some thinking, to straight things out and to enjoy ourselves. While walking I looked at Naruto who had both of his arms behind his head while his blue eyes were gazing into the sky. I wonder what he was thinking right now. Just as I was about to ask, he spoke,

"Hey Sakura, you wanna go to a special place with me?"

I raised my eyebrow in confusion and he immediately grabbed my hand and I had to run along with him. "Come on". He was just like a little kid again.

He brought me up on a small hill I don't even know but it was near from the park. Besides, it was almost sundown. Going further up the hill, I could then see why Naruto brought me up here. Both of us could see the whole village and it was sundown already. It was a nice sight to view to end such a lovely day. It was almost like a dat…..

"You know, when I was young, people would always disturb me, or shun me, or even leave me alone. I hated their aura. I had to find a place to calm my self. So I came here every time to be alone. And every time I come here, I would always find peace with the evening sun. It was nice and wonderful to me. And on the next day, I could take on the world even the whole world hates me." He spoke.

I looked at him who was looking at the evening sun. I had listened to every single word he spoke. His past life as a child was very harsh yet mine was a wonderful memory to always remember and shared but his was full of hardship and challenges. When we became a team, I would always thought he was as an annoyance and might be the source of the team's death but he wasn't. I got to know him in time and I began to understand his feelings and about himself.

"Sakura? Are you crying?"

I rubbed my eyes and spoke, "No, its only dust in my eye"

I felt a hand on my head and I heard his voice,

"Don't worry, we'll bring him back so we could be together again like we used to"

Afterwards,

Sakura had left and went back to her apartment while Naruto went back to his old home.

"Ahh, what a day" he spoke and closed the door. He walked in and turned on the lights. It was night already.

"Better get a shower" he went into the bathroom and took off his clothes.

After he took a bath, he walked into the small living room. He was wearing only black pants without any shirt on while he was drying his wet hair with a yellow towel. While drying his hair, he looked out through the window and saw the black sky.

Just as he turned around from the window, he felt a sharp pain on his head and fell to the floor.

A few seconds before he passed out, he saw a creature in front of him with glowing red eyes coming closer to him. Then, his vision was blurry and suddenly all black. He fainted.

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Knock…..knock…..knock

"Hey Naruto, are you in?"

…………………………..

Knock…..knock…..knock

"Hey, if you're not going to get the door, I'm gonna let my self in"

…………………………..

"Alright then"

The doorknob was turned.

"It's not locked?"

"Hello?" a pink haired girl spoke as she came in through the door and into the room viewing inside the apartment. She went in and looked around and searched for someone but there seems to be no one at all right now. With a weird and curious look on her face she walked back out from the apartment and closed back the door.

"Weird, where could Naruto be?" the pink haired girl spoke.

After failing to find him, I walked out from his apartment and went out into the village to search for him and hoping I could find him, wherever he might be right now. Maybe he's busy training somewhere with Jiraiya or spending some time for his own self. Who knows? I just need to find him. Maybe I should go and look at the ramen shop we went yesterday.

So, I dashed off from there and went towards the Ichiraku Ramen Bar.

As I came closer to the bar, I saw a few people sitting and eating there but none of them had a blond hair that belonged to Naruto. Just in case, I went there and asked the guy who makes the ramen. So I came towards the shop and asked the guy who were busy with his customers.

"Excuse me, have you seen Naruto? I've been looking for him"

The guy who was busy with his work looked at me and raised his brow asking, "Naruto? Hmm, didn't see him today yet probably. I don't know."

After I said thanks, I went off to another place were I might find Naruto, Tsunade's office.

Walking towards her office, I knocked on the door. Knock….knock….knock

A voice replied, "Come in"

After hearing the reply, I turned the doorknob and pushed the door. I went inside and closed the door behind me. As usual, she was busy with her duties as the fifth hokage, still busy with papers here and there. She didn't even notice me. Well, just after she put down the paper she had in her hand, she looked at me.

"Ah, Sakura, what can I do for you?"

"Have you seen Naruto? I can't find him at his apartment or at the ramen shop he usually goes to."

Tsunade looked at me with a weird look, "Are you kidding? I'm busy with my work and you expect me to baby-sit him?"

"Hehehe, sorry, I thought you might knew where he went" I was about to say bye when she replied,

"Maybe you should ask Kakashi-sensei outside the window" Tsunade spoke as she pointed out the window while looking through the papers she had in her hand.

Walking over to the window, I then saw a man with his face in a book in his hand. I jumped out form the window and stepped on the roof. "Hey Kakashi-sensei, did you see Naruto today?"

Kakashi-sensei stopped reading and looked at me, "Huh? Naruto? Hmm, nope didn't see him. Where could that boy ran off to now?" He had his mind on the book again and left me alone.

Well, no help there.

I continued my search and went everywhere around the village but I couldn't find anyone by the name Naruto. Where could he be gone to?

I decided to go to the small hill Naruto brought me yesterday. He might be there all by himself thinking or doing something. With a hope that could fill the entire ocean in the whole wide world, I went to my destination. Oh Naruto, where'd you run off to? You didn't go all by yourself to get back Sasuke now did you?

Gasp.

That's the worst thing he would ever do. If he did that I'm going to make sure he'll never feel his arms, legs, and other parts of his body. Hoho, your in a lot of trouble mister.

"Hmm, there's no one here at all"

I looked at the village for a moment. Yesterday's view was spectacular along with the sunset.

Just as I was about to leave the place, I saw something shine on top of a tree. I went over to investigate and saw a headband. I jumped upwards and took the over hanging headband by the branch and grabbed it. Examining it much in detail, I remembered that this was Naruto's headband. The black colour of the cloth certainly explains that the headbands belongs to him.

Now, I could only find a guide to show where he'd been.

He must have been here. He couldn't have just leaved his headband just like that. It's really important because it proves that you are a ninja. If he's headband was here, I wonder if I could find anything else nearby. After a few minutes of searching, I found nothing. I sat down on the green grass and leaned my back on a tree. Tired after the search, I decided to take a rest under the shade provided by the tree. I had his headband in my hands and I gazed at it. Geez Naruto, why'd you have to disappear now?

I closed my eyes for a moment, and then an evening nap took me over and soon I was asleep.

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"Where……where am I?"

"_He's awake"_

"Who…..wha?"

"_It's alright. Your safe"_

"Where am……"

"_Does it matter?"_

"Ye….."

"_We could help you"_

"Help me?"

"_Yes……we could help you…….get your friend back"_

"My friend?"

"_Sasuke Uchiha"_

He's been missing for three days already. We couldn't find him anywhere.

"How about this place?"

Tsunade and ANBU have been busy lately trying to locate Sasuke and Naruto at the same time.

I was walking nearby the gates of Konoha trying to help the search team if I could find anything that relates to Naruto perhaps. I hope he's fine. I can't believe he disappeared after the mission. Correction: after he spent time we me in a nice evening. But during that time he was happy and I can't believe I'm saying this but I had a great time having spent the best evening I had with him.

Just as I came across the gate, I saw someone outside the village. Could it be? No. I couldn't be him. Well, only one way to find out. I walked closer and soon saw him, lying on the ground? But I thought I saw he was moving towards the gates of Konoha. Maybe he crawled he's way back home?

I immediately give him medical attention and inspected his injuries of any sorts. On the moment I laid my eyes on him, I gasped and saw a lot of scratches on his body along with his shredded clothes that were mostly covered with blood. I kneeled down to his height and examined him by first whether he can respond or not to me.

"Naruto….Naruto….wake up"

So much for that. Checking his breathing and heartbeat, good. I need to carry him back now. I put him on my back and later on we were moving back into the village.

Later on I was in his apartment and he was lying on his bed after I had cleaned his wounds. It wasn't severe so I can manage it myself without much help from any hospitals or so. We were sitting on the bed, him in front of me. He was only wearing his pants so I could help him heal the wounds on his upper body. Lucky for him, the scratches weren't deep but there were sure a lot of them. Wonder what could have happened to him in those three days?

"Say Naruto, what happened to you?"

He seems to be ignoring me. Wondering what's he's thinking?

"What are you thinking about Naruto?"

Hmm. Still nothing. I've seen people in coma but he doesn't look like he's in one. While still healing his wounds, I had the chance to look at him. He wasn't much of happy looking right now. He looks like as if he's in a trance. I hope he's fine.

"Okay Naruto, I think that's about it. I'm done."

While I was packing some of my medical stuff back into the small bag, he was still doing nothing and just sat there on the bed. I couldn't do much but I'll try to talk to him again, maybe he'll respond again to me.

"Naruto, are you sure your fin…."

What? Wha….

He was standing right in front of me; I was sitting down on the bed. He was looking down, hiding his face from me. He then came down and hugged me. While hugging, I couldn't see his expression on his face so he spoke to me,

"Do you want me to bring him back Sakura?"

All of a sudden I felt a part of my heart ache. Why that question? Aren't you happy? At least we're both still together with Kakashi sensei. Naruto, Sasuke had chose his own path to follow. He has his own life to live. Why can't we just leave him in peace? I don't care about that now; I just want to be with you; to be able to protect you.

But that wasn't what my mouth said, "Yeah"

Tears began to fall from my eyes and soon he stood up and gave a weak smile at me, "Thanks, Sakura"

Later on,

It was dark in Naruto's room. A blond haired boy was sleeping on the bed nice and cosy while a pink haired girl was laying her head on the bed sound asleep. Both of them were nicely dreaming in their own fantasy world.

Then all of a sudden, the boy woke up abruptly and opened his eyes. Instead of the sky blue eyes he usually has, this time, it was a mix of red and orange.

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"_We can help you solve your problem dear child"_

"_How are you going to do that?"_

"_By giving you power to change what you want"_

"_Why are you doing this?"_

"_Because we want to help you that's all"_

"_So, all you want me to do is to join you?"_

"_Yes, but before you do, we need to ask you a favour for us"_

"_What's that?"_

"_Eliminate the current Hokage"_

Sakura's dream:

I was standing in front of him. The wind blew in the air and dry leaves flew in the air along with the wind. My eyes were shedding tears again. My cheeks were wet and my heart couldn't take it anymore of this. This is all insane. I don't want this to happen. Just don't go and leave. It's hard to forget you. We're friends, why are you doing this?

"Sasuke, please don't go"

Silence was in between both of us. He was looking away from me and stood a few metres away.

"It's because, I want to seek power, and to bring him back to you, Sakura"

Instead of a cool and relax Sasuke I know, it was Naruto who was standing in front of me.

I was shocked.

"Na…..Naruto?"

He gave a weak smile and soon he disappeared from my view and from my sight. Soon just as I wanted to get him before he could get far, I felt a strong sharp hit on my neck and everything went black afterwards.

Reality

I opened my eyes and felt my cheeks were wet. I was crying in my sleep again like last time, but this time, it wasn't Sasuke whom I saw in my dreams, but it was instead replaced by Naruto. Why am I dreaming about him leaving me? I mean, I might be over dramatic, but maybe I am, it's only a dream, it's only a dream. I have to stay focused. I sat up after the night sleep I had. Just as Stood up, I saw I wasn't in my room. It seems I fell asleep in Naruto's apartment and him sleeping on the bed while I had laid my head on the side of the bed. I felt my cheeks were giving warmth and I noticed I was blushing. How embarrassing. Soon, I saw Naruto waking up slowly and he soon looked at me with a tired like face.

"Go..good morning Naruto" hehe, give a smile, give a smile. I gave him a smile and he just looked away from me and stood up. Walking away from the bed, he soon went to change his clothes. He wore his clothes in front of me, I mean it wasn't necessary but at least be polite. I had to close my eyes.

Soon after, I heard the sound of the front door closing and he was no where to be found anymore.

I went to the front door and saw he walked away from the premises. So, I followed his trail and I have no idea where he is going. On top of that, I'm hungry. Well, I didn't exactly got breakfast in bed you know. Just have to take my hunger along with me I guess. Oh, I just hope I know where he is going in the middle of the morning without any breakfast.

While walking and following him, I had been thinking about the dream that I had.

Naruto wouldn't leave just like Sasuke would. Why would he want power? He's good enough to become the next Hokage after Tsunade. He works hard and he wants to achieve his success with his own sweat and not by a power someone else gives away for him. I just hope I'm right. The last time I had a dream like that, it became real. Oh dear, I pray nothing like that would happen to you Naruto.

What? He's walking towards the hokage's office?

Just as he was near to the building, Kakashi-sensei appeared before us.

"Hey guys, glad you came by. I got a mission for us" he spoke.

"Kakashi-sensei, hehe, nice to see you to" I spoke.

Naruto still didn't respond to anything. But I saw he had tightened his grip forming a knuckle.

"So, when are we going?" I asked with a smile on my face. A forced smile.

After we had prepared our items for the mission, (and I had my breakfast too), we went off with our bags on our backs hoping to complete this B-rank mission.

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We've arrived at our destination. The location was given by us so that we could find the target easily. It seems this ninja is stupid or just plain ridiculous. What kind of ninja would give away their current location? Anyway, we are now observing our target who was asleep or who knows what but he was resting on a tree. Or so he wants us to think like that.

According to Kakashi-sensei, this guy is former jounin of the hidden leaf village. I don't think this will be easy. Nevertheless we should never underestimate an opponent that's for sure. Alright we need a plan to take him down. All we need is to wait for Kakashi sensei to….hey, where's Naruto?

"Naruto, what the hell is he doing?"

I saw Naruto approaching the sleeping enemy. He's walking right towards a trap. What the hell is he thinking out there? Is he nuts or something? Kakashi-sensei just watched Naruto walking towards the enemy. Isn't he going to do something about it?

Just as Naruto came a few metres near already, a bunch of kunais flew right at him at hit his upper torso, arms and legs. He was still standing but his body had been covered with his own blood.

"I got you now!!" the enemy came out from nowhere and tackled Naruto towards a tree. He used the kunai stabbed in Naruto's arms and legs towards the trunk of the tree, immobilizing Naruto. Shocked, I came down from the tree we were sitting on along with Kakashi-sensei.

"Naruto" I was about to go to his aid when Kakashi-sensei spoke, "No, it's too late"

The enemy was still there, in front of Naruto. He was smiling, but his smiled didn't last when he saw Naruto was smiling also. Suddenly, the kunai stabbed in his arms and legs came off easily by itself and soon, Naruto fell towards the ground. He stood up slowly. The enemy moved back a bit and soon his eyes widen in fear.

Naruto had stood up now, he was smiling in triumph. He took a bit of his blood from hisbody using his fingers. With the blood in his fingers, he began to write in the air. I never seen any jutsu like this. Is this even possible? Both Kakashi-sensei and I watched Naruto as he was about to reveal a new jutsu to us. I looked at Kakashi-sensei's face and saw that even he was curious on what Naruto was doing.

"Summoning jutsu"

Naruto wrote a symbol and a few words which I couldn't read but the blood had stayed in the air forming what Naruto wants to do. I've seen summoning jutsu before but never seen any like this.

Just as we were about to do anything and even the enemy was captivated by Naruto's skill, ten creatures appeared before us, surrounding the enemy. Since the enemy was stunned to the ground in pure fear just like when Orochimaru encountered us for the first time, the stare in his eyes were no humans, it was of a demon who wanted to kill. Soon, the creatures were seen as foxes but no ordinary foxes because they were glowing and were enveloped in a jacket of pure chakra.

We watched the fight and soon,

"Wait Naruto, don't kill him!!" but Kakashi-sensei was too late.

The foxes jumped towards the enemy and ripped him into pieces. Naruto was still standing although he was loosing a lot of blood. I looked at him carefully and saw that his wounds suddenly were healed in an instant. The foxes came towards him and I had the chance to look closer and examined the foxes. According to my observation, it seems that the foxes were made out chakra. At first I don't think it was possible to control chakra like that but Naruto did it.

First acting all quite and now able to control chakra like foxes? What's going here Naruto?

Kakashi-sensei walked over towards the enemy who was almost dead.

"Where is Itachi Uchiha?" he asked.

The almost dead ninja was still in a fear like state causing him to unable to answer Kakashi-sensei's question. Soon, the enemy ninja was dead.

Looking at his students, Kakashi-sensei spoke, "Well, we won't be getting any information from him now. This mission is a failure"

I looked at Kakashi-sensei and asked, "Failure? I thought this mission was to kill this guy."

"Well, that's were suppose to do before we had to kill him" Kakashi-sensei explained.

I looked at Naruto who stopped smiling and walked away from the scene.

"Naruto has a good idea anyway; time to head back to the village" Kakashi-sensei spoke.

While hopping from tree to tree along with Kakashi-sensei I asked him, "Kakashi-sensei, don't you think Naruto is acting a little bit strange?"

Kakashi-sensei took a moment to answer, "I don't see any difference in him. He looks fine to me. Maybe it's just the stress he got after the last mission."

"_The boy had shown his true potential"_

"_Excellent. Soon he will begin to understand his position in life"_

"_But how do you know he will join us?"_

"_All we had to do was just call him to us, and he will come"_

"_You put the Mark on him?"_

"_Of course."_

Afterwards, we arrived at our village. We separated our ways and went back to our homes. Kakashi-sensei would always report back to headquarters about any mission. Naruto had head back to his own apartment while I did the same. I just hope he is fine. Stress huh? I've seen stress. Some even worse than the last.

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"Naruto, are you sure you're alright?"

I looked at him with worried eyes. On the other hand, he was ignoring me. Well, his clothes are all covered with blood and he's walking like nothing had happened to him. Kakashi-sensei had gone off to see the Hokage to reprt the mission we finished but apparently didn't succeed. Somehow, I feel sorry for the guy Naruto killed. Before this, Naruto wouldn't even dare to kill anyone, but as a ninja, we need to do what we must to obtain our success.

"Naruto, will you just stop and listen to me!!"

It was somewhere around in the evening. No one else was around. He stopped right in front of me while I stood in front of him. He wasn't smiling now. He was serious looking and was gazing right into my eyes just like when Sasuke left me in the past. He gave me the same look in his eyes that Sasuke gave me, the cold and harsh look that was burning and eating him from inside, I could see it all; very clearly and very true.

"Move"

A single word was the only thing came out from his mouth but with that same word; I was pinned to the ground and stood right there in front of him. I couldn't believe him. He wouldn't go away just like Sasuke right? He said he was going to bring Sasuke back and why is going to leave then? This is not true, this can't be happening right in front of me. I felt this aura; the chakra surrounding him began to feel very heavy and dense. It was colder than ice and darker than black.

"Why?"

The word came from my mouth. He pushed me towards the side and walked away. I slowly stood up and caught up to him. He was walking slowly so I didn't have to use much of my energy to go after him. I quickly wrapped my arms around his neck and grabbed on to him tight. He halted in his path and I closed my eyes and prayed hard. I don't want you to leave like he did to me. I want you to stay so I could protect you. Where are you when I need you? You would always help me get up every time I fall but no one would help you. You had to help get back up by yourself. This time, I'm going to be the one to help you back up on your feet.

I can feel his body shift a bit. I opened my eyes and saw my self sitting on a cold wooden bench and he stood in front of me.

"Goodbye, Sakura"

As soon he spoke, he disappeared into thin air.

For the next few days, Kakashi-sensei would come by to my apartment and would check up on me. He would also bring along with him a doctor to check up on me. I was like in a coma, half awake, half asleep.

Ino's POV

I heard that Naruto had left Konoha just like Sasuke did leaving all Sakura alone. Now that the two of them gone, I also heard rumours that Sakura is going crazy and stuff so I had to go see her with my own to eyes and hear it form her with my two own ears. If the rumours are this crazy and bizarre then she must be in a really bad condition.

I as her best friend from childhood went to visit her at her apartment.

During that time, when I came into her room, I saw her sitting by the bed looking out the window and wondering out to the wide blue sky.

"Hey Sakura"

She didn't give a respond. She just sat there ignoring me and just minding her own business. I closed the door behind me and walked into her room. It looks like everything is in their place, not touched or disturbed. I walked over towards the pink haired girl and sat beside her. Just as I was about to say anything, her hand reached towards mine and she spoke to me,

"They left me Ino."

It's terrible to see someone whom you love like a sister acting like this, all messed up and miserable. I grabbed her hand she had on mine and I spoke clearly to her,

"Sakura, it's not your fault."

Then, she replied back to me, "It was mine. I was weak, that's why they left"

During in the past, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were like a family along with Kakashi-sensei. The four of them were very close together unlike the first time they met. Now they grew a strong bond with each other they could never break the bonds they made. How am I going to comfort her like this?

I looked at her in the eyes.

"No, you're not going to be like this. You're not going to be weak. You are going to be strong"

She looked away form me and pushed away my hand.

"For what do I want to become strong if I don't have anyone to protect?"

That hit me hard.

I stroked her pink hair and she looked at me, "If you want to be strong for someone, do it for yourself. You need to grab hold of yourself and fix this mess."

This is the second time I'm helping her.

"Be strong Sakura, and bring Sasuke and Naruto back to you."

She looked at me and suddenly she did what I didn't expected her to do; she hugged me.

"Thanks a lot Ino"

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It seemed about a month had passed but it's actually just a week after Naruto had left Konoha. It was very lonely without anyone else to talk to, it was even very boring. All I had with me was Ino and she was also going around doing missions and stuff. So, I had to spare my time by helping around at the hospital with the patients. Doing so really helps me forget the troubled times. Everyday I see sick and helpless people seeking for help and aid. Well, now I was here, I feel that I was needed by these people. I am useful to them.

I was in the hospital when the nurses brought a patient into a room. The patient was screaming and screaming. I bet the hospital would fall apart if he wouldn't shut up.

"I'm telling you I'm not faking it, foxes came out from nowhere in the forest and tried to kill me." The patient said.

"That's fine for you to think like that but who would ever believe foxes would attack anyone and get them injured in this kind of condition. You're lucky you're still alive you know. If no one found you in a few more minutes you might as well be dead by now." The doctor explained.

"Maybe he's just going some kind of phase through his life."

I heard someone spoke from behind me. I turned around and came face to face with Kakashi-sensei. He was standing while reading his book he always carries around with him.

"Kakashi-sensei, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be doing something right now?" I asked.

He was more of a carefree ninja so I don't know but I think he doesn't even really care what he is doing right now.

"Nope. Not really. I'm off duty right now."

Off duty huh? That's the first time I heard that. You need to get better lines Kakashi-sensei. The patient from before began to sit up on the bed he was on while the nurses were trying to give him medication. "Sir, please calm down and relax." The nurses were struggling with him. Even the doctor stood away from him. The patient shouted, "He's there, there he is!!! He's outside on the roof of that building!!" He spoke while pointing outside the window.

This guy must have got the wrong ambulance, he should have been sent to the mad hospital. Well, a look outside the window wouldn't hurt me and I turned my head towards the window. Just as expected, there was no one outside on the rooftop of the opposite building. Yup, I conclude my findings that this man had just gone from sane to insane.

All of a sudden, I felt a shiver through out my whole body.

"Is it me or is it cold inside here?" I spoke to myself. I immediately walked out from the hospital as fast as I could and reached the front door. Walking outside, I still felt very cold as if it was snowing in Konoha but it was bright and sunny. Since I felt the coldness, I began to wonder if something bad is going on, or is it going to happen. A few more moments later, the cold and shiver disappeared and I felt as if nothing had happened to me.

"Oh there, you are. I was wondering why you just went off like that."

I turned around and I saw him again with his book in his face. "Something wrong?"

"Nope. It's nothing really. Just went to get a little fresh air." I spoke and gave him an assuring smile towards him. He wasn't even looking at me, why am I even smiling for him?

But the smile on my face later quickly changed into a sad frown when I something passed by in front of me, reminding me of a certain someone. It was a person wearing an orange shirt. It wasn't the person that reminded me of someone but it's the colour of the shirt; it was orange. It reminds me of Naruto. Every time I see something that connects to him then I would surely feel the sorrow coming back to me.

"I think I need to get something to drink." Kakashi sensei spoke, "Wanna come?"

I nodded and he replied, "Good" he put away his book and looked at me, "Shall we?"

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_I was walking inside a dark room. _

_There was no one else except me._

_Where am I?_

_I see a light high above. It was circular. It was the moon._

I came back to my senses. That was something I had never encountered before in my life. I was standing on the rooftop of my apartment with the moon as my company and the stars as my guidance to all my problems. I looked out towards the horizon. Far away was a forest surrounding the village of Konoha giving the name, village hidden in the leaves. It was calm night, a perfect night for me to relax my mind from all the daily troubles and activities I had gone through the day. All that stress inside me washed away like the sandy beaches.

It was very comforting every night if I did this. It felt like when I was a child, mom would always be at my side every time I had a problem or anything, she would always comfort me and give me advice for me. I miss her already. I felt a tear coming down my eyes when I remembered the sudden event happening in the past during the times I was in the team going for missions and spending time with the three of them including Kakashi-sensei.

"I feel that you are indeed some kind of trouble."

A voice had spoke and a figure appeared behind me. His presence is indeed a surprise to me and I immediately armed myself with a few kunai in my hands taken out from my pouch. He was still standing there. I didn't have time to reply to his words as he had spoken again to me.

"Wait, you had lost something didn't you; something very valuable in your life."

I was still on my guard in case anything he had under his tricky little sleeve. I examined the figure. I couldn't see the person clearly until the light from the moon shined upon us and I was able to see the person talking to me. It was a man wearing black clothing while he had his face covered with bandages and I could only see his golden eyes shine.

"Why do you care?" I replied.

I could tell he was grinning below the bandages that hid every detail of his face. Maybe he's so ugly that he's hiding it with bandages. Haha. He took my answer pretty well since he was still standing there like a stone statue. But it wasn't long until he spoke again to me with his deep and heavy voice.

"Because I can help you find it back."

Find? Of course I lost something but that thing is not and it, actually a he. But what can you do for me? He's gone already. You can't bring him back to me. Unless you had to probably tie him up tightly and put him in a cage that might work but he is not an animal. I was curious so I replied to him with this,

"Oh? and how are you going to bring him back?"

I could just feel him as if I just took his bait. Now he's so happy I could feel his aura all jumping around in happiness. His eyes narrowed and it became as if he was about to kill me.

"If you help me, I might bring him back………..alive"

It took me less than a second to reply him back to his statement,

"Gee, no thanks, I rather have him alive than dead."

He turned around and was about to walk away when I heard him speak, "Oh well, I guess Naruto would be all alone by himself now in this whole wide world."

I think one of the three kunai I was holding in my hand fell off from my grip. Did I just hear him saying Naruto's name? What did Naruto have to do with all of these and how did he know about him in the first place? Even more curious I began to make him feel like I was interested.

"Okay, so what if I agree to help you? What do you want me to do?"

He turned back around and faced me.

"Simple actually. All I need you to do if get me a certain package from Ryu the Master Craftsman of the Sand Village. Go to the Sand Village and get it for me. Other than that, bring it to me in one piece."

"And how did you know about Naruto?"

I waited for his answer but I came a few seconds afterwards.

"Practically he is known everywhere now, especially the underground world where villains rule this particular world."

"Not in a million years" just as I was about to throw the kunai in my hand, the three people emerged from the darkness and stood in front of the guy I talked to. And I was shocked to see one of them. I can't believe what I'm seeing but he was right in front of me and was held captive by the other two men.

It was long missing Sasuke!!

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She stood there like a stone statue as she looked at Sasuke who was kneeling before her alongside him was two ninjas who were holding him captive.

"She's confused, let's get her now!!"

Shocked but still alerted, Sakura began throwing the kunai in her hands towards the ninjas who easily dodged her child's play attack leaving Sasuke all by himself on the floor. Three against one, Sakura was ready for anything. One of the ninja was about to attack when there was a voice, "Nobody move!!! You are surrounded" All of them looked around and saw Konoha's ANBU ready to take them down.

The three ninja was later captured by the ANBU and sent for custody leaving Sakura all alone with Sasuke in her aid.

She kneeled down and looked at the injuries he had on his body. She was preparing to heal him with her own chakra. "What happened to you?" She asked him as she began healing the wounds slowly. She looked at his face that had no emotion at all giving her a thought what he was thinking in his mind. Just as she was about to speak again Sasuke smiled which looked more of a smirk, "You've been tricked"

Sasuke's lips were moving but not a single voice had came out from it but Sakura was also confused at that moment leaving her wide open for any attack on her, "Ninja art!!"

My brain was sending messages to my body but it did not respond and my eyes saw everything. Just as Sasuke spoke the word, I saw everything went white then slowly I could see again and saw Sasuke morphing into another person, a person who had tricked me into believing Sasuke was back in Konoha and I caught into believing so. How stupid of me to believe such nonsense but in a corner of my heart I had hoped so much to see him back. Soon, my vision was blurry and I could not see a thing except the darkness.

_Sakura, you need to wake up_

_  
Sakura, can you hear me?_

_Listen to me…._

_You have to wake up from this………._

_Sakura….._

_Wake up….._

_Everything you see and hear is…._

_You must….._

_Before……._

It was very comfy, the pillow on my head, the warm and soft bed, the nice scent of flowers and the calm surroundings.

Hmmm….it smells delicious.

I slowly awoke from my slumber and sat up on the bed I was sleeping on. I viewed my surroundings and saw that I was inside a wooden house; a cabin to be exact. I wiped my eyes with my hands and slowly stood up from the bed. Everything was still hazy and blurry to me but I instantly woke up as if I just had a cup of coffee and realised I was somewhere where I have no idea where.

But there was a delicious smell of breakfast in the air so I began walking out from the room to investigate. As I walked out form the room, I saw a man three feet taller than me cooking in front of a stove and I saw a lot of food set on the dining table ready to be eaten. The man turned his back and he saw me walking towards the table, "Ah you're awake already? Come, come sit down and enjoy the nice breakfast. Help yourself while I finish this up. Go on sit down"

I hesitated but the nice smell coming from the food made me walk over to the table and sat down. I was hungry and it felt I haven't eaten in days so I began to dig in. Just as I was about to take my first bite, there was a knock on the wooden door. "Now who could that be in this early in the morning?" the man spoke. He put down the pan he was holding in his hands down and turned off the fire of the stove. He walked over towards the door and opened it.

"Yes can I hep you stranger?"

I saw the man was pushed aside by a person coming from the door. The man fell down and was about to stand up when I heard a familiar voice and saw a familiar face. "Sakura, you got to get from here. This is all a………." Just as he was about to finish the sentence, the man stood back up and gave a hard punch at the boy and the young blond haired boy was thrown back out through the wooden door. "Serves you right." The man spoke and closed the door. He gave a look at me and smiled, "Everything is alright now. Enjoy your breakfast."

_Listen to me…………_

_Get up Sakura_

_Please Sakura_

_Get up_

_There playing with you_

_Toying with you_

_Don't believe_

Just as I heard voices in my head, everything became black again.

This time, when I woke up, what in front of me, surprised me.

He stood in front of me with a large smirk on his face while his eyes were focusing on me directly as if he was looking into my soul. He was wearing a black coat with red clouds on it and he was wearing his headband but the plate was scratched in the middle as if he denied what it was and where he came from.

My body felt weak and I couldn't do anything. I tried to move my hands but it seems that I was chained on a wall and my legs were done the same too thus I was unable to move my body. I had tears coming out from my eyes and it fell down my cheeks leaving a trail of sadness on them.

"Don't cry Sakura. This won't last long" He took out a kunai and licked it with excitement in his tone. "This won't hurt a bit at all." He spoke as he came closer towards me. At that moment, I saw in his eyes that he had an intension to kill someone and his eyes showed nothing but pure evil and hatred. "Like I said, this won't hurt a bit……to me actually"

Help me

Someone help me…………………………..before it's too late.

_The chain is broken_

_Get him now_

_Move!Move!Move!_

_Strike now!  
_

_Don't let them get her!_

_Stop them!_

_Kill them!_

_We need more shinobi here!!_

He was grinning at me and came closer. I could feel his dark, heavy and hazy aura beginning to surround me. I began to feel tired and weak that I almost felt that I lost my life but not until he is going to do it for me. I couldn't believe that my own friend that I used to know and began cherish was about to kill me.

"Time is so short so I have to do this right now Sakura-chan"

This is it. This is my last moment.

"Hehehehehe" I heard his chuckle.

I closed my eyes and was prepared for death as he was about to take my life away from my body. I couldn't save him and i have even failed to save myself.

It was cold and numb; I just hope everything I did until now is worth while.

Everything was quiet. I waited and waited until a sharp pain come but none ever did. I opened my eyes slowly to see what it was going on. My vision was blurry as if I had just woke up from a long dream. I saw a person standing right in front of me but I couldn't see his face clearly neither the words he spoke at me. But his chakra signature given me a thought that it might be the blond haired boy who I knew;

"Naruto" I whispered out to reach him but I felt very weak and unable too. A few seconds later, everything was clear to me. I could see him smiling and his eyes full of happiness.

"Sakura"

His voice, I'm so glad to hear it once more. I have no idea what is going on right now but I just hope that everything that I had went through was all a nightmare.

"We need to get out from here quick. Kakashi-sensei! I got her; let's get out from this place"

Once more, I was safe in his arms. I closed my eyes again and a wonderful dream began to take me over.


End file.
